On 2007's MISERY LOVES COMPANY, Kansas City, Missouri underground rapper Tech N9ne (a.k.a. Aaron D. Yates) offers up a fierce set of collaborations with likeminded hip-hop artists such as Big Krizz Kaliko and Kutt Calhoun. Hard-hitting and proudly entrenched in Midwestern rap culture (see the blazing "Misery," a play on "Missouri"), the album easily stands out as one of Tech N9ne's most assured and uncompromising outings